The world - Feb. 4, 2010

THURSDAY

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was re-appointed to a second term by the U.S. Senate on a 70 to 30 vote. Washington Sen. Patty Murray voted yes, Sen. Maria Cantwell voted no. Cantwell was among 23 senators, including 11 democrats, to vote against Bernanke’s second term. She blamed Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner for what she believes are insufficient oversight of financial firms to restrain risky investments.

Reclusive U.S. author J.D. Salinger, who wrote the American post-war literary classic “The Catcher in the Rye,” has died at the age of 91 of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire. Salinger’s novel depicted a teenager struggling through adolescence after his expulsion from a Pennsylvania prep school. Many schools and libraries banned the book due to its use of profanity and occasional scatological references. It is routinely listed among the best novels of the 20th century.

California’s Historical Resources Commission registered a collection of 106 objects left by the Apollo 11 moon mission as an historical resource.

FRIDAY

The Washington state Senate Republican caucus bans Sen. Pam Roach of Auburn for repeatedly mistreating staff and advised her to seek out anger management counseling. Her most recent incident involved a public berating of Michael Hoover, a Senate attorney, in the GOP caucus room.

The U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 5.7 annual rate during the fourth quarter of 2009, the commerce department announced today. Much of the growth came from companies drawing down inventories more slowly than they did earlier in the year. Overall the economy shrank 2.4 percent in 2009, the biggest drop since 1945.

State bank inspectors shut down the American Marine Bank, the third Washington-based bank to fail in January. Operations were taken over by Columbia State Bank, which will share American Marine’s lost assets of $255.1 million with the FDIC. The FDIC estimated that American Marine’s failure would cost its insurance fund $58.9 million.

WEEKEND

Eight Idaho missionaries are arrested at the Haiti-Dominican Republic border for illegal trafficking of children. They were transporting Haitian children to a new orphanage in the Dominican Republic after the massive earthquake that struck Port-Au-Prince Jan. 20.

An interpreter in Afghanistan shot dead two U.S. soldiers Saturday. An Afghan provincial official said the interpreter had quarrelled with the soldiers over pay and treatment, before opening fire. The interpreter was shot dead by other soldiers after killing the two.

Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” was named Album of the Year, and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” the best song at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

MONDAY

In the past year about 2,000 small quakes have rattled an area under the Hanford nuclear reservation, the Tri-City Herald reported. A seismologist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory says the quakes were too small to cause damage, with largest a magnitude 2.9.

U.S. private employers cut 22,000 jobs in January, less than the 61,000 jobs lost in December, according to a report from ADP Employer Services.

Astronomers found P/2010 A2, a comet-like object they believe was created by the collision of two asteroids, possible siblings of the rogue rock blamed for killing the dinosaurs millions of years ago. The rock was circling about 90 million miles from Earth.

TUESDAY

Punxsutawney Phil, the meteorological marmotic marvel, spotted his shadow on the ground on Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., indicating winter will stick around for another six weeks.

Lawyers in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and other groups argued Myriad Genetics’ patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer should be declared invalid because they stifle the free flow of information and hamper research.

Israel launched five air strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to a pair of explosive devices that washed up on Israel’s coastline the previous day. The air strike struck tunnels along the border with Egypt and an abandoned airport.

WEDNESDAY

An Indonesian tobacco company has agreed to pay the medical expenses of a man who lost six teeth when a cigarette mysteriously exploded in his mouth. Security guard Andi Susanto, 31, lit the Clas Mild cigarette when it exploded. He said he would quit smoking after the incident.

Iran announced it had launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket capable of carrying a satellite. Western governments worried the rocket was a signal of Iran’s move to build long-range launch technology for nuclear warheads. Iran says the launch was part of its efforts to build a space program.

Compiled by staff from a variety of sources.